theraineysisters knitting and so much more

January 6, 2008

From Susan — Remantled Roslin

Filed under: Roslin Fair Isle Hoodie — lv2knit @ 10:58 am

I just finished up the last touches of dismanteling and remanteling my Roslin.  I chronicled the entire disemboweling in pictures and none of them turned out, but I feel the need to include some pictorial evidence of my entrails travails (entrails — get it?: disembowel…oh, never mind!)!  The pictures could not be retaken because these were one-time photo opportunities.

Per Surly’s request, here is a crappy picture of Rossie before I took a scalpel to her:

RoslinRemodel009.jpg picture by lv2knit

The surgery required removing the ribbing and grafting on the newly knitted bottom portion (knitted like the original pattern this time ;)).  I know a lot of people hate to do grafting (aka Kitchener stitch) and would rather give up knitting than graft 268 sts!  It does not bother me, which proves I’m an oddball. 

Here I slipped a smaller needle through the row I wished to keep — everything below will be removed (the color in the picture is absolutely horrid!):

RoslinRemodel010.jpg picture by lv2knit

The above white marker was used to mark the center stitch.  I had to make absolutely sure that I grafted center stitch to center stitch.  In the next picture you can see that I snipped the yarn of the row below the row on the needle and pulled it out all the way around — this picture is both ugly and blurry!!:

RoslinRemodel013.jpg picture by lv2knit

Here, I’m grafting the new bottom half to the old top half.  I started at the center front stitch but left enough tail to graft back the other direction (from the center out to both sides).  I did not bother doing that on the back.  On the back I worked from right to left across the entire back.

RoslinRemodel018.jpg picture by lv2knit

 Here is the finished job (the color is much closer to true):

 Roslin1-6-08.jpg picture by lv2knit

The last step was to attach the top of the kangaroo pocket.  I counted rows, centered the stitches again and “sewed” it to the sweater — a close up:

Roslin1-06-082.jpg picture by lv2knit

The back:

RoslinRemodelBack.jpg picture by lv2knit

And a close up showing the back grafting line:

RoslinRemodelBackCropped.jpg picture by lv2knit

I think it turned out as expected and will improve with blocking, when I get to that point down the road.  The only difficulty was due to the tendency of shetland wool to stick to itself — the grafting yarn and the sts were trying to “become one” as I went along!

Will it fit better?  Will it look better on me?  Who knows (and who cares!!)?  I’m not about to reknit the bottom a third time, so it will have to work! 

Now it is on to the sleeves — which means a trip to the yarn store for knitting needles — can you believe I don’t have the Size 5’s I need?!?  Bummer! ;)  In the meantime, I have picked up Lyra again, so the time is well spent. 

I was heading to St. Paul today anyway.  The Minnesota Knitters Guild annual Yarnover event is on April 12 this year (the website lists all of the instructors).  I am on the planning committee, and we meet today.  Yarnover will be held at Hopkins High School for the first time — it is a beautiful venue.  We are really excited about the program this year.

 

15 Comments »

  1. Isn’t she amazing? (Well, her photography skills not so much. But the knitting surgery is fabulous.)

    Hopkins High School — I was a Warriorette! (Hail, hail to our Warriors, Back them when they win or when they lose . . . )

    Comment by surly — January 6, 2008 @ 11:13 am

  2. You do amazing grafting! Nice tutorial – thanks for sharing it with us. Nice sweater, too!

    Comment by Dianna — January 6, 2008 @ 11:37 am

  3. Better to be an oddball than to rip the whole thing or throw it aside for the next few years, only to give it to the cat or dog to use as a blanket years later!

    Comment by Marina — January 6, 2008 @ 12:06 pm

  4. Brave and talented. This is the only way I can describe your outstanding craftiness and fortitude. Nicely done with beautiful results.

    Comment by Karen B. — January 6, 2008 @ 12:06 pm

  5. Susan- Excuse me, I have to fill up the sink and scream into the water.
    That was worse than a horror movie.

    …..the sink is overflowing.

    Comment by Lorraine — January 6, 2008 @ 1:02 pm

  6. Holy Smoke. That was like watching surgery. Without the blood. Impressive. I’d never have thought to do that. Makes me wonder if I can re-knit DS’s aran sweater cuffs so that the sleeve is shorter, and cuffs are snugger. Hm. Worth a trip to Massachusetts with needles and leftover yarn…

    Comment by PainterWoman — January 6, 2008 @ 3:39 pm

  7. E. Zimme()*& ain’t got nothin’ on you !!!! Girl, you rock the knittosphere!

    Comment by Michelle — January 6, 2008 @ 6:45 pm

  8. Oh, oh, oh! My. It does look awesome!

    Comment by Carrie K — January 6, 2008 @ 7:27 pm

  9. Bravo! Magnificent!! I’m giving you a standing ovation! You are my heroine! And I did laugh at your entrails joke…..

    Comment by Jewel — January 6, 2008 @ 9:18 pm

  10. Grafting line? Where, I can’t find it. Great job. Way better than having to reknit. I might have just cheated and knitted top down instead.

    Comment by Angelika — January 6, 2008 @ 9:36 pm

  11. Oh my stars, what an awesome feat!! Your skills amaze me. No wonder all of your work looks so brilliant!

    Comment by Denise — January 6, 2008 @ 10:04 pm

  12. Oh, non, Yarnover is BEFORE April 15th? That means that our favorite accountant — that would be me — cannot come. You will hear the yowls of anguish all the way out in Hopkins…

    Comment by kmkat — January 6, 2008 @ 11:35 pm

  13. Aww, that’s too bad BECAUSE I’M GOING TO YARNOVER!!!! I think.

    Comment by surly — January 7, 2008 @ 9:22 am

  14. Wow! Amazing surgery. Amazing skill.

    And bravery too. I don’t think I’d be brave enough to try it. Thank you for the very enlightening pictures.

    Comment by mary — January 7, 2008 @ 5:11 pm

  15. If it was not for the fact you are such a lovely person and so willing to share with others your expertise and assistance, I ‘d say you were a show-off. What a piece of work that was. Beautiful.

    Comment by WendyM — January 8, 2008 @ 5:09 am

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